Installing Outdoor Fans

Truth: Sherry was oddly into fan hunting and the idea of adding two new fans to keep our freshly-opened sunroom cool (and to create a nice mosquito-warding-off current while we’re out there relaxing), but I was NOT excited about said fans.

We actually have quite a bit of practice removing fans (I submit to you Exhibits A, B and C) – and just look at how happy it made me.

Generally we’ve had 7.5 to 8′ ceilings in most rooms with them, and being 6′ tall, I’ve always felt like they were low-hanging oversized pinwheels that were one inch shy of giving me a haircut – although we’re suckers for function, so we’ve always kept a few around wherever they were especially useful (we kept them in the sunroom and den of our first house, and the sunroom and guest room of our second house). In other words, a few got to stick around, but we’re not really in the practice of adding to our total-house-fan-number, if you know what I mean.

This is actually the first time we’re increasing our count, by going from one out here to two thanks to this wiring that we had done after we ripped out the ceiling. We knew two fans would more efficiently cool the space (and make mosquitoes say “ain’t nobody got time for that”) and thanks to the freshly lofted ceilings we hoped the fans wouldn’t feel too low-hanging or heavy. But the thought of installing new fans STILL wasn’t something that my brain could get excited about. So it settled on assuming the task would be difficult and the results would be underwhelming. Awesome attitude, self.

After looking everywhere from craigslist and thrift stores (it was hard to find two of the same kind secondhand) to more obvious places like Lowe’s and Home Depot, we settled on this model from Home Depot (which we found to have a better fan selection in general, by the way).

They were $119 each, a $10 downrod that we had to add to each of them since our ceiling is lofted. You may be surprised that we didn’t buy white fans, but with so much lightness in the ceiling area already we thought something dark would add some nice contrast and play off the dark floors (once they’re tiled).

Beyond just looks, we also had to be sure to buy something that was safe for use outdoors and that could be installed on an angled ceiling.

They’re not shown here on the box, but we also checked with the store associate to make sure it was compatible with light kits (check) and remote controls (double check) in case we wanted to add either of those things down the line (we’re currently planning to add sconces on the columns around the room for softer eye-level lighting instead).

Before diving into installing each one – a task I was certain would involve a few missteps and lots of upper body strain – we made sure the power was off, both at the breaker and the light switch. And then Sherry still insisted on triple-checking things with our little live current tester (sometimes outdoor wiring can be tricky – for example in our first house a few outdoor things got power from a shed way back in the woods).

Before I go further, I should be clear that Hunter doesn’t know us from Adam and certainly isn’t in cahoots with us or this post. So the gushing I’m about to do about their instructions is purely because, having dealt with plenty of sub-par instruction books in my day, it makes me downright joyful when I encounter a manual that’s well done and easy to follow (like the one for our Nest thermostats). For example, this manual included a section for double-checking that your ceilings aren’t too angled for the fan to be compatible. They even marked the corner of the page so you could fold it down and hold it against your ceiling to check the angle and be sure. So simple. So smart. Maybe this install wouldn’t be so bad after all?

Another little ingenious touch: the hardware was separated into different bags and labeled by step with a unique symbol that the manual referenced whenever it was time for that particular batch of parts to be used.

Obviously you’ll want to consult the installation instructions for your fan since they can vary, but for anyone else who is tackling a fan installation, we wanted to cover the general process for you – especially since it was something we had never done before (and I was convinced would suck). Our first task was to assemble and install the mounting bracket to the fixture box. This is basically what secures the fan to the fixture box, which needs to be braced properly for the weight of a fan. The good news was that the electricians took care of that bracing step for us when they added the two fixture boxes, so we just needed to secure the top of the fan to our already braced box.

I also liked how the instructions gave you a thumbs up at the end of each step. Nothing like a big confidence boost from a little hand icon.

The next part was actually what I was most anxious about – adding the downrod. This was where we had to modify the parts included with the fan (i.e. sub out that nubby rod with the longer one) so that ours would drop down from the ceiling a bit. For some reason I assumed this would be the point I’d screw up.

But once again, the instructions made it error proof. Basically we just removed a couple of screws and stuff from the rod they included…

…and reattached them to our new one.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how we knew what sized downrod to buy: Home Depot had a guide on display along with all of the differently sized rods. Our ceiling was a little over 9ft at that point, so we got the 12″ rod.

The fan had tons of extra wire, so it was just a matter of threading it up through the longer rod.

Then I attached the rod to the fan (it twisted in and got held in place by a screw) and I clipped most of the excess wire off.

Even this part – where I expected to be exhausted by meager upper body strength while holding the heavy fan up for hours minutes to get it in place – was no big deal at all. The little ball at the top of the rod slid into the mounting bracket with virtually no effort and within seconds my arms were free. Seriously, it was a motion that took ten seconds tops. Well, except for the added time that was required to pose for this picture (it took me a few tries to nail the “focused, but not too strained” look that I’m sporting).

With the mounting bracket doing the work of holding the fan up, it didn’t strain me at all to connect the wires (and the instructions were very clear about what color went where).

And then while I screwed the canopy in place…

… Sherry got the fan blades prepped by adding rubber washers and screwing them into each of the five metal arms.

Then up those went, finally making this fan look like a fan.

Last but not least was installing the cap at the base which is where a light kit could go eventually, if we ever decide we want one (hence all of the wires that get tucked away in there).

As much as we wanted to sit back and celebrate our first-fan-ever-installed victory, there was the minor detail of getting the second one up. The first one took us a bit longer because of instruction reading and photo taking, but I still think we got both fans up in about 90 minutes. Zero missteps. Minimal arm strain.

And, here comes the real shocker, we LOVE them. I didn’t know my heart had such a great capacity for loving fans, but I couldn’t stop smiling once they went up. Maybe it was knowing that it marked the end of working above my head for a while? Or maybe it was just how finished they made the room look (assuming you kinda held your hand over the lower half of this photo). But seriously, picture them with the dark slate-like floors that we’re putting in. Not bad, eh?

I think they’re just one of those “moments” in DIY that really hit home how far a room has come. From this…

…to now this.

We’re also relieved that our instinct to go dark with the fans was one that were really happy with. Sunny spaces like this can usually use some contrast, and these fans are finally giving the light blue ceiling and all of that white trim a little pow, if you know what I mean.

Now, if only we had finished this project about a month ago when their cooling action was actually still needed. Oh well, at least it gives us something to look forward to for next year.

New truth: I’m crazy excited to have our fans installed in the sunroom.

Secondary truth: I have no idea why the ceiling looks so light/not-blue in these photos (see the first picture of this post for a more accurate color depiction). Or just ignore the ceiling and keep oogling the fans.

I love the look of this. For some reason it looks very Southern (open porch space, dropped fans to cool away the warm air), at least to Midwestern me. ;) And great call with choosing dark fans against the light ceiling. This room is really coming together!

Looks great- you will be happy you chose the dark fans- we put white fans outside on our porch and for some reason they get very dirty and have to be wiped off all the time. It’s a real pain! I love the way your porch is turning out!

We’re planning to furnish it much like the deck (with outdoor friendly pieces) and will probably bring things like the outdoor pillows and small occasional tables in each winter. We’ll also cover the table out on the deck and bring in the umbrella out there, etc. Thankfully our winters are pretty mild and only last a few months so we’re excited to get to use that whole back area for 10 months out of the year or so.

Wow! I was surprised that you went with dark but I’m sold too! The contrast really does look great. It is nice to hear that this was a happy installing story. We have some hideous fans that are in need of replacing and I’ve been a little bit leery in replacing them since there are so many factors. Thanks for giving me a boost of confidence!

Looks great! Gives me hope for when we may have to install ceiling fans (if we had to live longer than just an month in this rental apartment we would – don’t understand why there are none).
About the too white ceiling in the pictures: do you use the automatic whitebalance setting on your camera? It seems your camera decided to work out some of the blues. It does that when it’s on auto. You can manual correct that when taking pictures, but I usually keep it on that setting and use the white balance (remove color cast) corrections in Photoshop.

I think you’re onto something! Instead of shooting in A mode we have been trying to shoot in Manual, but something about our settings drained the blue right out (the first pic was taken in A mode). Will have to pay attention to that more when we’re going (didn’t even think to look at the color of the ceiling in the pics since we were so focused on the fans!).

Right now we think adding four sconces to the columns around the room would be nice eye-level lighting for the room that’s cozier than fan-lighting (although if that’s a bust we can always add light kits to these fans).

I am two days in to a photography course and we learned last night about Graduated Neutral Density Filters. This filter balances the light densities between the darker parts of the photo and the lighter parts. Often when you are shooting something the lower darker parts of the photo need different settings than the higher lighter parts, in most cases the sky, or in yours the roof. This is why when you take scenics at times the sky turns out white. The filter applys a tint to the lighter parts correcting this and allowing the lighter colours to be seen. This effect is what all the magazines use to get the details in their skys for scenic photos. To use the filter you just hold it in front of your lens. Our teacher suggested Cokin and said they are about $40 CDN. I will be adding one to my Christmas list for sure!

It’s really coming together! Can’t wait to see it with the floors done! Is that the intercom you mentioned to the right of the window? Does it work? My in-laws have one and I always thought it was kinda strange…but convenient I guess, hah

Ah yes, it’s 95% broken (sometimes you can get one fuzzy radio station that will randomly cut in and out) so we’re not sure if we’ll update the system with something or just remove ’em and patch the holes.

My parents have in-wall speakers in their house (so fancy!), and it is pretty cool. It took us (read: me, their tech support) awhile to figure out, but now that it’s all working, it is pretty neat. They have their stereo hooked up to the input, and they love playing Christmas music all over the house.

This is a totally random question that is completely unrelated to this post (cool fans, by the way!) but I was just wondering where you guys work now. I noticed on the house tour page there is only a small desk + one chair in what is/will be your office. Do you guys share? Or have you adopted the working-from-the-couch technique (one I highly recommend!)?

We’re pretty loosey goosey about it in this house, which is probably good and bad. A lot of times I’m at the kitchen table and John’s at the desk in the office, although we’ve both been known to bring the laptops over to the sofa and even out in the sunroom if Clara’s out there playing or something.

Funny you mention that Home Depot had the best selection. We just bought a new ceiling fan for our new house and noticed that fans and light fixtures were plentiful at Home Depot and nowhere to be seen at Lowe’s. Though the opposite is true for appliances…Love the open sunroom! Would love to have it myself!

We had a hard time finding a fan we liked for our bedroom, and it turns out that what you see in person at Lowe’s and Home Depot are hardly the full extent of the options they offer…. We found one we loved online at Lowe’s and had the option of having it delivered to the store or directly to our house.

I’m a fan! I have a pergola over 1/2 of my deck which is rather large and I’ve been wanting to add exterior fans for awhile. Thanks for sharing the Home Depot fans that worked so well for you. I agree on the contrast of a darker fan and a light blue ceiling will enhance it even further (nope, I couldn’t tell either, but you know it’s there…).

We are brand spanking new at DIY (purchased our first home in June.) I convinced my husband we could remove an old, brass light and add a fan. We were both pleasantly surprised at the ease you described (same brand, but different model), that we high five every time we look at it! We didn’t have to call either of our dads! Moral victory!!

Yes! Like attempting to remove the wallpaper to find TWO layers and paneling, and the carpet in the basement to find THREE layers of different carpets, the padding. Oy vey 1960’s! Oy vey eccentric old lady previous home owner!

This is turning into my favorite project you have ever done by far. Those fans are the icing on the cake. So glad you didn’t go with white – white fans looks cheap to me. These look great. Especially when you hold you hand over the bottom of the photo lol!

Glad to hear they didn’t cause you too many problems. I am just imagining relaxing under those fans on a warm afternoon… (can you tell its getting cold up here in Boston? I’m daydreaming about summer already!)

It does look like a great installation process. Why don’t they do that for light fixtures? I’m finding those seem to be terrible across the board. Mounting screws too short, have to hold the light while you do the wires, etc. Ugh.

My shoulders ache just thinking about it.

The fans are awesome though! I don’t know about your part of the country, but they also keep the flies from getting in the house when the doors are open.

Aw thanks SM! Last week I made a fall wreath and added some yellow mums to the porch, so there’s some fall bid-ness going on outside. Haha! Just have to see if I get around to doing much inside (sometimes when rooms are so raw/wallpapered/blue trimmed it’s less exciting for me to decorate for a certain season and I’m more into just stripping that paper and painting the trim so by the time the next holiday rolls around I hopefully won’t have that as a backdrop!).

The color you selected was an awesome choice – this looks really great – can’t wait to see it with the floors!Luckily you’ve been able to get some use out of them this season with the last bit of summer heat spells that have occurred in the last few weeks they’ve been up!

Love the choice of the dark fans! They pop the way dark curtain rods do. Have you thought about white washing the brick in the sunroom to make the room more cohesive and to visually separate it from the rest of the brick exterior? I think that would be a really pretty finishing touch.

We actually think it might be less cohesive if the entire exterior of our house isn’t all brick since the sunroom is essentially just a covered porch now (so the exterior finish of a house is usually consistent, both under a porch and on the rest of the house). I think since the deck surrounds the entire sunroom and there’s brick off of the deck, it just makes sense for there to be brick in the sunroom area as well, but I’m also hoping that once the dark floors go in they’ll tie into the brick wall just like the brown deck wood ties into the brick exterior over on the deck side of the back :)

My son, Josh (the one with the fan scrapbook), was so excited to see you chose Hunter fans, because they are his favorite company. He did a lot of “Wows!” and “Awesome!” while reading through. Your website is his new favorite thing to do in his free time. :) Thanks for sharing all of the installation pics. It made his day!

My rule is ladders are still ok, but bending over backwards for hours on them (to paint ceiling beams) or trying to cut down giant tree branches = no no. But testing wires and drilling something light into the ceiling = watch me go!

Same! On my second pass through the post I was like…wait a MINUTE! Guuuurrl musta been head bangin’ over how awesome those fans look. Except that might not help with all the puking going on over there these days :)

Nathan installed a similar fan (like, almost the exact same one, but it came with lights already) at our friend’s camp up north over the summer. It was so quick and easy! They come with great directions.

I am totally jealous, I absolutely love the room. I dont even need to cover the floor and it looks amazing.
Quick question have you guys ever thought of doing a post or a series of posts on how to decorate or “handle” some typical but difficult areas of houses? For example, we have a sliding glass door that leads out to a deck – it is in our dining room so there is really no room for French Doors and I am stumped on how to decorate them.

During our blogiversary folks were asking us to do some sort of “Ask J&S” thing where they could submit design issues with a pic of their space and we could share ideas (along with commenters chiming in with more tips/suggestions). We think it sounds really fun so we’d love to get that going! Hopefully in the next month or so!

I think you have perfected the “focused, but not too strained” look, now you should be giving FamilyHandyman magazine a call….you could totally model for them…same look, same attire…it is you! With all your spare time and all….it would totally work.

Those are some handsome fans! For reasons beyond my understanding, I see a lot of ceiling fan-hate on design blogs, so it’s refreshing to see a (eventual) pro-fan post. Personally, I had ORB fans installed in almost every room of my home (sans bulbous lights). They’re lifesavers in the summer, and probably cut our electric bill in half over relying on central air alone. So yeah, go fans!